Tracking Legislation
Now that you have learned the steps
a bill takes to become a law, let's show how that model works with a
real bill. In addition, you'll learn where this information is available
on GPO Access, the Government Printing Office's online service
of official legislative and regulatory materials.
Tracking the legislative history of
H.R. 408,
The International Dolphin Conservation Program Act
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Where to find this information on
GPO Access
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The
first step in H.R. 408's journey was its introduction to Congress.
The number H.R. 408 indicates that the bill was introduced in
the House of Representatives.
On January 9, 1997, the bill was introduced by its sponsor
(Rep. Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland) and recorded in the Congressional
Record.
At this point, the Introduced Version (the
very first version) of the bill was published by the Government
Printing Office (GPO).
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Read when H.R. 408 was introduced in the Congressional
Record database. Text
| PDF
Read the Introduced Version in the Congressional
Bills database. Text
| PDF
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Next,
H.R. 408 was assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee for closer
analysis. After debating the bill, the committee released the Reported
Version of the bill, and referred the bill to the House floor. |
Read the Reported Version
in the Congressional Bills database. Text
| PDF
Read the reports on H.R.
408 in the Congressional Reports database.
Text
| PDF |
Once
released, H.R. 408 went on the House Calendar. The full House
debated H.R. 408 and on May 21, 1997 voted in its favor. 262 voted
yea, 166 voted nay, and 6 did not vote. |
View H.R. 408 on the
calendar in the House Calendars database. Not available
at this time.
Read the debate and see
the vote of H.R. 408 in the Congressional Record
database. Text
| PDF |
Finally,
the House released the Engrossed Version of the bill.
At this point, the bill officially became known as an Act. |
Read the Engrossed Version
in the Congressional Bills database. Text
| PDF |
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